He’s almost reckless enough to say the truth, but he catches himself in time. She knows he has new friends in town, but he never mentioned Will directly, mostly because he wasn’t sure if they were truly friends. Now that Owen knows about the animosity between his aunt and Will, which is likely related to whatever happened with the sheriff’s son, it makes sense why Will wanted to keep his distance.
“I just hung out around the square,” Owen says with a shrug. “Nothing special.”
“Hmm. And what have you got planned for this morning?”
“I’m going to read, then maybe hit town to buy new shoes. I can also clean up around here.” He appreciates his aunt not bugging him about house chores, but he wants to be useful.
“A bit of cleaning up would be nice, and the front lawn could use some attention.”
“Roger that.”
She leaves shortly after, and Owen finishes his food and washes his dishes. He then takes the old lawn mower from the shed. Once he gets it up and running, he begins mowing the lawn. It’s still early and a bit cold, but he doesn’t mind since pushing that heavy thing makes him feel warm in less than a minute. Due to the loud noise, he doesn’t notice the approaching car until it’s right in the driveway. He shuts down the lawnmower as Nate steps out of his private car, wearing civilian clothes.
“How’s it going?” he asks.
“Going well.” Knowing what this must be about, Owen can’t help but feel agitated. It’s been four days since Nate took him out to Eminence and explained the undercover mission. Should he have called Nate to set something up? He’s not sure.
“I hope you don’t mind me stopping by, but I know Sheryl is working.” Nate takes a step closer. “Are you doing anything right now?”
“I’m mowing the lawn.”
“Yeah, no shit.” He smiles, and there’s a spark in his eyes that Owen isn’t sure he likes. “Saving lives is a bit more important than a pretty garden, I’d say. How about we get the ball rolling and drive over to Eminence?”
“You mean now?”
“I can wait until you get ready, but you don’t need to look fancy to buy drugs.”
He doesn’t feel ready, but he does feel committed to helping. “Do I have time for a quick shower?”
“Sure. I’ll wait inside.”
“How long do you think it will take? I still want to finish the lawn.”
“We should be back in a couple of hours. Easy peasy.”
They walk inside, and Owen goes upstairs to take a shower, while Nate waits in the living room. Under the stream, Owen tries to calm down by remindinghimself that he had bought drugs many times before, at crowded parties as well as in dark alleys. He used to be extra careful not to get caught by the police, but now he has the police on his side.
He steps out of the shower and dries himself. With a towel wrapped around his waist, he walks to his room to get dressed, but he stops abruptly at the sight of Nate sitting on his bed. He narrows his eyes at what Nate is holding.
“That’s private.”
Nate doesn’t seem bothered about getting caught. He looks up from Owen’s sketchbook—the one that was in his drawer. “These are good.”
“These are private.”
“I like to snoop.”
What kind of an apology is that?
“Didn’t know you were an artist.”
Owen tries not to get angry, and he doesn’t like having a conversation when he’s in a towel. “I studied art and graphic design.”
“Nice. You like drawing muscles, that’s for sure. Are you focusing on anyone in particular?”
Owen rarely draws faces, but if he did, his latest work would have had Will’s face, since it was his body Owen had been imagining when he moved the pencil over the paper.
“I don’t have anyone specific in mind.”
